


Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me)

by Faustess, feignedsobriquet



Series: Until the Last Star Darkens [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Corpse Bride (2005), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Awesome Pepper Potts, Awkwardness, Bad Parenting, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/M, First Impressions, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), M/M, Magic, Miscommunication, Multi, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Not Cheating, Old-Fashioned Etiquette, POV Bucky Barnes, POV Pepper Potts, POV Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Polyamorous Character, Possibly Unrequited Love, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Victorian manners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24690031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faustess/pseuds/Faustess, https://archiveofourown.org/users/feignedsobriquet/pseuds/feignedsobriquet
Summary: Howard Stark and his wife are wealthy industrialists looking for an entrance into polite society.  Lord and Lady Potts are aristocrats one sneeze away from the poorhouse.  Their heirs will marry and both sets of parents will get what they want... as long as everything goes According To Plan.  (Hint:  it doesn't).
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Pepper Potts, James "Bucky" Barnes/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Until the Last Star Darkens [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796185
Comments: 19
Kudos: 43
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2019, StarkBucksBingo2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While there are Victorian manners and some old-fashioned speech patterns, there isn't any of period-typical homophobia.
> 
> The title comes from [this poem by Emily Dickinson](https://poets.org/poem/because-i-could-not-stop-death-479). :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Created for TSB because of @Sobri's enthusiasm. :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me), Chapter 1  
> Collaborator: Faustess-3059  
> Square Filled: T3 - Tony Stark/Pepper Potts  
> Ship: ChillyPepperony (pre-Tony/Bucky/Pepper)  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags/Warnings: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements  
> Summary: Howard Stark and his wife are wealthy industrialists looking for an entrance into polite society. Lord and Lady Potts are aristocrats one sneeze away from the poorhouse. Their heirs will marry and both sets of parents will get what they want... as long as everything goes According To Plan. (Hint: it doesn't).  
> Word Count: 3049

Tony Stark looked out at the gray cobblestone courtyard below and tried not to feel nervous. He sighed then and turned back to his workbench, straightening his tools and running his fingers over the scratches and gouges that marred its surface. A clockwork sparrow hopped up to the windowsill and started to sing a sad little trill as it wound down, the jump taking too much of its power for a proper song.  


He ran his finger over the fine detail work that conveyed realistic feathers on the bird’s head. _This is it. When you come home again, you’ll be a married man._

He’d never met the young woman he was supposed to marry tomorrow. This afternoon was the wedding rehearsal and Tony was trying his best to be optimistic, but the overcast skies weren’t helping his spirits. Tonight, he and his parents would spend the night at Potts Manor. Tony adjusted his suit coat and straightened his tie for the third time and surveyed his reflection in the mirror. _Not bad._

Downstairs, he could hear Maria twittering, her voice floating up the stairs, “It’s such a glorious day for a wedding, Howard!”

Tony also overheard his father absently agree, “Yes, yes… very fine day.”

Creeping out of his room quietly, Tony stood in the shadows at the top of the stairs listening to his parents’ conversation. “Howard! You’re not listening! Everything has to go exactly to plan.”

Howard crossed the foyer below, already dressed in his overcoat and hat, and took Maria’s hands, kissing her knuckles, “My dear, our son will be married tomorrow, and we’ll be lifted to the heights of society.”

Maria giggled, “We’ll be having crumpets with the queen.”

Tony sighed inwardly again and tried to push down the butterflies in his stomach, which only succeeded in making him feel slightly ill.

Smiling indulgently at his wife, Howard agreed, “Everything will be fine, my dear and you can rub elbows with all the society ladies you like.”

The door clicking shut behind Tony echoed through the foyer and both Howard and Maria looked up. Sighing, Tony came downstairs. Maria kissed his temple, “You’ve certainly hooked a winner this time, ‘Tonio.”

Howard nodded and put a hand on his shoulder, “All you have to do is reel her in.”

“I’m already reeling, father,” Tony said, trying and failing to step out from under Howard’s hand. “Shouldn’t Virginia Potts be marrying a lord or something?”

“Nonsense!” Howard said with a frown, “We’re every bit as good as the Potts family. We’ve always deserved better than an industrialist’s life.”

Tony stammered as they stepped into the carriage to take them to Potts manor, “B- But I’ve never even spoken to Miss Potts.”

Howard rolled his eyes, his patience wearing thin. “Well, at least we have _that_ in our favor.”

Maria tried to be encouraging. “Remember your posture – none of this slouching like you’ve got rickets or something.”

Though probably well-meant, this reminder did not make Tony feel more at ease and as he looked out their carriage window, his stomach flip-flopped dangerously. Not more than five minutes later, the carriage slowed, then rocked to a halt at the door to Potts Manor.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

At the other end of the fashionable neighborhood, Virginia Potts was being trussed so tightly into her corset that fainting was a distinct possibility. Wouldn’t _that_ be mortifying? Virginia watched as her face flushed and then paled drastically in pain with each tug of the cords. She wondered what kind of man Anthony Edward Stark might be – and whether they’d fall in love.

She knew how her parents felt – that the only thing worse than marrying into the nouveau-riche would be marrying a land-rich, cash-poor aristocrat like themselves. At dinner last night, her parents had said as much.

“It’s a sad state of affairs that’s led us to this, Cora,” her father had said sourly.

Her mother had stared down her nose at Virginia as though it were her fault their family had no money, “They’re so common, so vulgar, Potts.”

As was typical, Virginia’s parents talked over her as though she weren’t there. She fervently hoped that Mr. Stark didn’t expect her to call him by his last name – or his title – as her mother did. Silently eating her soup, Virginia wondered though if he would be someone she wanted to call by his given name.

“Everything _will_ go to plan,” her father, Lord Finis Potts, said with an air of finality.

Virginia tried to forget the way her father had glared at her and her mother’s lectures about duty to one’s family. Her maid, Darcy, pulled her corset strings again and Virginia gasped aloud. “Darcy, what if… what if Anthony and I don’t… like each other?”

Of course, just at that instant her mother stepped into the doorway and scoffed, “As if love has anything to do with marriage. Do you suppose your father and I like each other?”

While this sounded a bit like a trick question, Virginia considered it. Her parents often agreed with one another and shared similar interests and beliefs. “Surely you must, a little…”

“Of course not!” Lady Cora Potts, wouldn’t do anything so crass as to scowl at her daughter, but instead directed an icy glance to Darcy, “Get that corset laced properly. I can hear her speak without gasping.”

From below, they heard the bell ring at the door. Darcy closed the door to hurry their preparations along and Virginia heard her mother’s footsteps as they moved toward the foyer.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tony swallowed his panic when Lord and Lady Potts’s butler opened the door and they stepped inside. Howard glanced around the hall dismissively and spoke in a low voice to Maria, “Not as big as our place. Kind of shabby.”

Maria swatted her husband with her closed fan, “Shh!”

The butler took their coats and announced them to their hosts, “Lord and Lady Potts, Mr. and Mrs. Stark.”

Howard stepped forward, leaning on his walking stick, “Charmed, I’m sure, milady.”

Watching this disaster unfold in front of him, Tony cringed when he caught Lady Potts whispering to her husband, “Smile, darling. _Smile._ ”

The effect of that was a rather snarling kind of grimace. Tony rather wished his lordship hadn’t made the effort. His lordship greeted them, “Well, hello. What a pleasure – welcome to our home.”

Maria smiled and inclined her head. “Why thank you.”

Lady Potts gestured toward a dark hallway. “We’ll be taking tea in the west drawing room. Do come this way, it’s just through there.”

As his parents started a stream of small talk with Lord and Lady Potts, Tony lingered behind. A small vase of starflowers caught his eye on the piano. He thought it was a bit tasteless to have such a large piano in the entrance hall – demonstrating how large the hall really was, as well as implying it was just there for decoration. The rest of the hall was barren of other ornaments or decorative furnishings, so maybe they just hadn’t been able to remove it easily when other items had been sold off.

Tony sighed softly to himself. It was crass that he’d noticed, though it was hard not to. He let his fingers trail over the keys, then saw the drawing room door close and let himself sit down to play. As music filled the room, the manor felt less lifeless and Tony let the music sweep his thoughts away.

In fact, he was so absorbed in the song that he didn’t hear Miss Potts approach and only caught sight of her in his peripheral vision. Startled, Tony shot up and stumbled backward, knocking over the piano bench.

“Oh! Sorry!” He only just managed to catch the small vase before it fell and looked up at Miss Potts. “Do forgive me?”

Miss Potts smiled tentatively. “You play beautifully.”

“I- I- I do apologize, Miss Potts. How rude of me… I didn’t mean to…” Tony twisted his fingers nervously and then remembered to stand the piano bench upright again, “Well, excuse me.”

Miss Potts held her hands clasped behind her back, more than an arm’s length away from him. She looked down and spoke softly, “Mother won’t let me near the piano. ‘Music is improper for a young lady.’ ‘Too passionate,’ she says.”

Tony cleared his throat, “If I may ask, Miss Potts… where is your …chaperone?”

Raising an eyebrow, Miss Potts said slowly, sounding a bit more confident now, “Perhaps… in view of the circumstances, you could call me Virginia.”

Tony straightened his waistcoat and tried to re-tuck his tie that was trying to escape. “Yes, of course. Well… Virginia…”

“Yes… Anthony?” Virginia looked up at Tony with large blue eyes.

Tony couldn’t help but notice the liberal smattering of freckles across her cheeks. “Tomorrow, Pepper – I mean freckles – you have some. Virginia.” He twisted his tie nervously, “I’m sorry,” Tony squeaked, and took a breath to try again, “Tomorrow, we are to be mmm… mmmm…”

Virginia giggled, “…married.”

“Yes, married,” Tony agreed and smiled hesitantly.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Virginia smiled softly and looked away. She couldn’t help it – she liked this nervous young man. It was as if even though their parents had agreed to the match, Anthony still wanted to make a good impression, wanted _her_ to like _him_.

“Since I was a child, I’ve dreamt of my wedding day. I always hoped to find someone I was deeply in love with.” She sat down at the piano and touched the keys lightly, “Someone to spend the rest of my life with.” Virginia folded her hands in her lap and looked up at Anthony, “Silly, isn’t it?”

Tony nodded along and laughed softly, “Yes, silly.” Then, realizing what he said, Tony gasped, “No! No – not at all, no!” In his distress, he knocked over the small vase of starflowers. Stammering, he said, “Oh – oh dear, I’m sorry. You can call me Tony.”

Virginia smiled up at him, sniffed the flowers, and held the delicate stem up for Tony.

Just at that moment, Cora Potts glided out of the drawing room, “What impropriety is this?! You two shouldn’t be _alone_ together! The rehearsal is about to begin, Reverend Fury is waiting. Come along now.” Lady Potts stood in the doorway, waiting for the two young people to enter, unwilling to take her eyes off the pair.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Three hours later, Reverend Fury sighed. He’d begun to develop a facial tic somewhere during the last half an hour or so. Tony swallowed as the Reverend audibly exhaled through his nose and his impatience was becoming increasingly clear, “Master Stark, from the beginning. _Again_. ‘With this hand I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine.’” Reverend Fury glared at Tony, “Let’s try it again.”

Tony cleared his throat, “Yes, yes, Sir.” He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and tried to sound confident. He had this. He could do it, “With this candle…”

Tony touched the wick of the white taper to the pillar candle’s flame. Nothing. The self-confidence slipped, “…This candle…” He leaned forward, trying again to light the candle in his hand. Again, nothing.

“Hmm...” Tony examined both ends of the candle to make sure that in fact he was attempting to light the correct end of the candle. Yes… blackened string end into the flame… that wasn’t the problem. “This candle…” He tried again, then peeked over his shoulder at his mother and father… and at Lord and Lady Potts… none of whom looked amused.

Reverend Fury cleared his throat and Tony jerked back to see that the candle had lit after all. Sighing with relief, Tony said, “With this candle…” and his breath extinguished the candle. He groaned in dismay.

Virginia smiled patiently, waiting for them to get to her portion of the ceremony.

Reverend Fury snapped, “Continue!”

The doorbell rang, and Tony was grateful for the momentary interruption of the wedding rehearsal. The butler glided out to answer the door, returning moments later with a large calling card. “A Lord Pierce, my lord.”

Lord Pierce approached the family group unhurriedly, “I haven’t a head for dates… apparently, I’m a day early.” The man studied a ring on the back of his hand for a moment with a haughty air.

Lady Potts waved her hand and the butler brought a chair for the newcomer, while Tony and Virginia both looked over their shoulders at the interruption.

“Do carry on,” Pierce said with a nonchalant flick of his fingers.

Reverend Fury sighed with irritation through his nose, “Let’s try it _again_ , shall we?”

While Tony swallowed, “Yes, yes. Of course, certainly,” Virginia lit his candle surreptitiously with her own candle to help him.

“Right,” Reverend Fury glared, as if trying to burn the words into Tony’s mind by the sheer force of his will.

“Right? What? Oh!” Tony juggled the now burning candle into his left hand, narrowly avoiding dropping it, then raised his right hand. “Right. With this…?”

“HAND, Master Stark! With. This. HAND!” The Reverend was no longer bothering about trying to conceal his frustration and impatience.

Tony offered his hand to Virginia, his stomach in knots and worried that his hand was clammy. She placed her hand in his with what he hoped was an encouraging smile as they stepped toward the ‘altar.’ “With this hand, I –“ Tony stumbled into the table, nearly knocking over the goblet of wine and burning pillar candle.

Reverend Fury was even more irritated this time, “THREE steps, Master Stark! THREE! Can you not count?! Do you not wish to be married, Master Stark?”

Virginia’s hand flew to cover her lips, though Tony couldn’t be sure whether she’d gasped at his gaffe or if she were stifling a giggle – and which was worse.

“No! No!” Tony felt the panic starting to blossom in his chest and struggled to keep it at bay.

“You do not?” Pepper’s – no _Virginia’s_ – surprise and flash of hurt startled him.

“No! I meant no I do not… not want to be married. That is, I very much wish to be –” At that point, Reverend Fury cracked Tony on the head with his crook. 

“Ow!” Tony complained, rubbing his head.

“Pay attention! Have you even remembered to bring the ring?” Fury raised an eyebrow in contempt.

Thank goodness that was covered – maybe this would turn out all right after all! “The ring? Yes, of course.” Tony produced the ring from his pocket, holding it up for everyone to see and felt some of the tension start to leave the room.

But… then the ring slipped out of his fingers. His parents, Reverend Fury, and Lord and Lady Potts’s distress, contempt, disappointment, and disgust was a cacophony in Tony’s ears. He dropped to his knees to find where it went, candle still in his hand.

“This boy doesn’t want to get married!” Fury snarled in disgust.

The ring rolled under Lady Potts’s floor-length skirts and Tony stuck his hand under without thinking, his hand brushing the outside of her booted foot. The Lady shrieked with alarm.

“Got it!” Tony made an attempt at cheerfulness.

In the commotion and in his panicked state, though, he’d dropped his candle on Lady Potts’s skirts, which were now in flames. Lord Potts shot up and began stomping on his wife’s skirts and knocked Tony out of the way.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Virginia stood next to the altar, watching her mother alternately shrieking with fright and snarling with anger at …Tony, Virginia’s betrothed. _How had this gone so wrong? Maybe they weren’t meant to be married…. _But Anthony – Tony – seemed like such a nice young man. He hadn’t tried to take any liberties when they were alone. He was nervous, but so was she; Virginia couldn’t fault him for that.__

____

____

She did like that he’d called her Pepper. She wondered what other things he’d say when they weren’t so constrained. Tony seemed… fun. But she was literally watching her hopes of marriage go up in flames and she had no idea where this left her – or them.

Behind her, Reverend Fury snapped his psalter closed and radiated disapproval. Mr. and Mrs. Stark were hovering, but not sure what to do. After all, Mr. Stark could hardly stomp on an unrelated woman’s dress-skirts – and a lady’s at that.

Amidst the chaos, Lord Pierce slipped past her to pluck the goblet of wine on the table behind Virginia. _His eyes are rather cold_ , Virginia thought to herself. Disinterestedly, Pierce poured the wine over Lady Potts’s skirt to douse the flames, smirked, and smoothed his lapels.

“ENOUGH!” Reverend Fury shouted. “This wedding cannot take place until he is properly prepared!” Fury turned to glare at Tony, who did look rather intimidated as the Reverend poked his finger in the center of her betrothed’s chest, “Young man, Learn. Your. Vows.”

Tony backed into the drawing room door and patted around for the doorknob. Virginia rather pitied the young man. It was unfair for them all to be staring at him that way, as if they’d expected as much from the start.

Virginia longed to push back the dark curls that had tumbled onto his forehead and hold his hand to reassure him that she didn’t share their contempt. How could she do such a thing though, in full view of their parents and a stranger? They were all looking at Tony though, so she tried to smile to show him it was okay, but she didn’t think Tony saw her in his rush to flee the room. Imagine that, he was Tony to her already!

“Well, he’s quite the catch, isn’t he?” Lord Pierce said, his tone roiling with sarcasm as he studied his fingernails with interest.

Virginia Potts did not grind the heel of her pointed-toe boot into Lord Pierce’s toes, but that was only because she was still reeling from the last few minutes’ chaos. Indeed, she felt entirely too shocked at the whole thing to do much of anything other than just hold herself together. She couldn’t do what she would have liked to do – run after Tony – so she did nothing and felt awful.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's where the Plan really falls apart spectacularly. Poor Tony - it's really not his fault. Also, Luis tells a story and Pep- I mean Virginia - confirms her opinion of Lord Pierce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me), Chapter 2  
> Collaborator(s): Faustess (3059 for TSB) and feignedsobriquet (3014)  
> Squares Filled: Faustess: TSB – S4: Miscommunication; feignedsobriquet: TSB - S4: Zombie  
> Faustess: BBB – B2: ‘Oh hell, no.’  
> Faustess: SBB – N2 - “I’ll Catch You”  
> Ship/Main Pairing: ChillyPepperony (Tony/Bucky/Pepper)  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags/Warnings: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements  
> Summary: Here's where the Plan really falls apart spectacularly. Poor Tony - it's really not his fault. Also, Luis tells a story and Pep- I mean Virginia - confirms her opinion of Lord Pierce.  
> Word Count: 3603

Tony ran without thinking through the town until he stopped at the bridge to catch his breath. Fog hung over the river, concealing all but the hint of the dirty barges chugging along to their destinations. He leaned on the edge of the bridge miserably, turning the stem of starflowers over in his hand.

Sighing to himself, he mumbled, “Oh, Virginia… you must think me such a fool.” Tony pressed his lips together and tucked the flowers back into his jacket pocket. “This day couldn’t get any worse.”

He straightened his shoulders, “Remembering shouldn’t really be that difficult.” Tony walked on, over the bridge and into the woods on the other side. “It’s just a few simple vows.”

Tony took a deep breath, “With this hand, I will take your wine.” He groaned, “No.”

Snow still clung to the roots of trees in the shady places as Tony walked further into the woods. “With these hands I will cup your –” he noticed his hand were cupped suggestively in front of his chest. “Oh, goodness, no!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, frowning and feeling both angry and disappointed with himself. Tony’s small workshop was filled with wonderfully elaborate clockwork animals. _I can make metal sing! Why can’t I do this?_

“With this… with this candle! I will… I will…” Tony’s voice trailed off and then he muttered, “set your mother on fire.”

He sank onto a fallen log and sat dejectedly. “It’s no use.” Tony sighed again and plucked the starflowers from his jacket pocket along with the wedding ring and stared at them in his palm. He breathed deeply, inhaling their fragrance, then stood again, determined. “With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine.”

Gaining confidence and momentum, he bowed to a tallish branch that jutted up from the forest floor, “Ah, Lady Potts, you look ravishing this evening.” He turned and glided across the clearing to a short stump and shook an armlike twig that stuck out from one side. “What’s that, Lord Potts? Call you ‘Dad’? If you insist, sir – then you must call me Tony.”

Tony picked up a twig, “With this candle, I will light your way in darkness.” He held his candle aloft briefly, then dropped to one knee next to another of the strange-looking branches that stuck up from the leaf litter that covered the clearing. With a decisive tone in his voice, confidence ringing with each word, Tony said, “With this ring, I ask you to be mine.”

A wind rustled through the bare tree branches above and from somewhere nearby, Tony could hear the caw of a crow. He looked away from the branch and the ring for a moment and saw to his astonishment that each branch of all the trees surrounding the clearing was occupied by several crows.

As he turned his head, wondering at the birds, something grabbed him by the wrist and pulled his arm into the snowbank. When he pulled his arm back, he saw a skeletal hand attached to a bony arm pulling him down toward the snow. Tony gasped and pulled as hard as he could, staggering back as the arm gave way.

He panted with both terror and relief to have gotten away only to notice the hand was still grabbing his wrist. Tony shrieked and shook his arm vigorously, stumbling and falling down hard on his bottom as it flew off in the other direction. Then, eyes like saucers, Tony turned toward the rustling sound he heard behind him and gaped in horror at the snowbank _shifting from below_.

Tony scrambled backward, legs kicking as a figure in a shabby soldier’s dress uniform pulled itself jerkily out of the snow and stood before him. No… the uniform wasn’t shabby… it was partially decayed. Fully on its feet, the corpse took a step toward Tony, standing at his feet and in a hoarse voice said, “I do.”

The corpse – officer – Tony realized in a detached part of his mind, offered its? his? hand to help Tony up. Tony’s eyes were so wide, and his eyebrows were so high they were very nearly in his hairline; his mouth hung open and for a moment, all he could do was lean farther away, making a high-pitched wheeze of abject terror.

Suddenly, though, as the figure stepped toward him again, Tony found his feet and sprinted away faster than he’d ever run in his life.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows.”_

The voice called to Sergeant Bucky Barnes from above. In his resting place… if you could call it that… being murdered and covered over with leaves and branches. Forgotten. You and your mother, he thought sourly to himself.

_“Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine.”_

Bucky turned his head to look up toward the direction of the voice, less annoyed now because the voice sounded so sure. From his pocket, Steve, the brown field mouse that was his closest friend, piped up, “Wilson is going to look at your cards if you don’t pay attention to the game.”

The wind breathed a name, _“Tony.”_

“Shut up,” Bucky grumbled, forcing his eyes to stare at his cards, though he struggled to make sense of them. He didn’t hear what Wilson and Barton were saying at all and didn’t notice the strange looks they gave him.

_“With this candle, I will light your way in darkness.”_

The voice tugged at the core of his being. Bucky flung his cards on the table, “I fold. I’ve… gotta go.” His stomach clenched in a way he hadn’t felt in years – _hoping_. He staggered out of the bar before running through the streets and dashing up the stairs of the closest tower.

_“With this ring, I ask you to be mine.”_

Bucky’s eyes fluttered closed and he found himself in the snow among the leaves again. Someone was holding his hand so carefully, gently. _When had he ever been touched like that?_ Bucky held on and tried to pull himself up. The hand holding his gave a tug, but that just succeeded in pulling off his left arm – or what was left of it. Damn thing was always falling off.

He stood up slowly and took a step toward where his husband had fallen. Bucky pushed his hair out of his eyes and was met with a vision: large brown eyes, dark hair askew – from the fall, Bucky assumed – and neatly trimmed goatee. _Beautiful._ “I do.”

Bucky offered his good hand to his husband, who looked as shocked as Bucky felt. The man, his husband, _Tony_ , scrambled back and started to run. Following the sound of snapping twigs and loud, panting breathing, Bucky followed steadily behind, walking briskly, but not needing to run to keep up. He smiled to himself. The skittishness was kind of cute, actually.

He didn’t notice that his footsteps made no sound, that he almost glided between the trees and through the cemetery to the bridge that separated the church, cemetery, and the forest from the town proper. Bucky found his husband panting for breath on bridge. Tony’s face beginning to brighten.

Disturbed by the couple moving through the trees, the crows flew and squawked around them. Unable to resist, Bucky snuck behind him, to tease his new partner. Tony turned around to face him, close enough now that Bucky could smell his hair tonic. Bucky smiled, “You can kiss me now.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips over the warm lips of his new husband who promptly fainted. “Poor guy, you must not be used to all that running,” Bucky murmured to himself.

From his pocket, Steve snorted derisively.

“Nobody asked you, squirt. Pipe down.” Bucky picked up his spouse, rather than letting him fall, and let the same pulling sensation he’d felt bring him to the surface, carry them both back home to the world below.

Back in the bar where he’d left his friends, Bucky laid Tony carefully on the floor and crouched beside him, cradling his head. As the man’s long, dark lashes fluttered open and he blearily tried to take things in, Bucky asked, “Are you all right?”

“What? What happened?” Tony sounded very confused.

Clint peered down, “I don’t believe it, Sarge…. You brought back a breather!”

Wilson raked his eyes over Bucky’s new husband and elbowed Clint, “I wonder if he’s got a dead brother…” Clint grinned and winked.

Tony scrambled up to his feet and Bucky stood.

Sam Wilson raised his glass, “A toast then! To the newlyweds!”

“Salud!” Clint nodded and raised his glass, draining it in one swallow, the green-colored alcohol clearly visible through his skeletal ribcage.

Tony blinked in confusion, “N- newlyweds?”

Holding his hand gently, Bucky nodded, “In the woods – you said your vows so perfectly.” He held out his hand and showed off the simple gold band.

“I did?” Tony gasped and whispered, “I _did…_ ” He slapped his cheek and pinched himself. “Wake up, wake up, wake UP!”

Steve leapt up onto Bucky’s shoulder, “What about the wedding feast? Pleeeeeaaaaaase, Buck? I’m starving!”

“You’re always hungry…” Bucky glanced nervously at his spouse and shrugged, “Mice, huh?”

Tony backed away until he bumped into Sam and drew the sabre from Wilson’s war days. Tony waved it around, wild-eyed, “I’ve got a sword! And I’m not afraid to use it! …I want some questions! Now!”

“Answers… I think you mean answers,” Clint suggested helpfully.

“Thank you, yes. Answers. I need answers!” Tony was obviously more than a little startled in the presence of so many of the deceased and was still resourceful enough to liberate and wield a weapon in the midst of it. Bucky was impressed.

Tony continued, still holding the sabre threateningly, “What’s going on here? Where am I? Who are you?”

All eyes in the bar turned to Bucky. The Sergeant’s story was one of the more famous and dramatic stories of the regulars there. He cleared his throat and looked away, “Well, that’s kind of a long story.”

“Oo! I’m gonna tell it!” Bucky didn’t know Luis very well, but the guy could tell a story. Luis’s eyes lit up, “You got romance, passion, and _murder_. So, like, the Sergeant over there – the one that you married? – he’s like a corpse bride that you hear about when you’re sitting around telling ghost stories by the fire, you know?”

“I’m not a corpse bride…” Bucky muttered, but nobody was listening to him – not even Steve.

Luis held up his hands, starting to really get into the story, “Okay, so back in the day everybody knew our Sergeant – and I mean _everybody_. He was the best-looking guy for miles – like even my cousin Ignacio was like ‘Damn, he’s fine – amiright?!’ and my sister Carolina said, ‘Oh yeah, he’s fine – and an officer, too? Hell yes, sign me up for a piece of that!’ Then this stranger came into town and not just any stranger – tall, good-looking – but in kind of that mysterious way,” Luis squinted his eyes to demonstrate just how mysterious and shady this guy really was.

Bucky blushed and Tony tried to excuse himself, but Clint flung a bony arm over his shoulders and reeled him back in.

“So, this guy, he’s really hot, but like totally broke. The Sergeant fell for him anyway, because, he doesn’t care about the money, you know? His family thought this stranger was bad news, though, lord or not, so Sarge said, ‘Hey, baby, I don’t even care about their blessing - let’s just elope.’ And they made this plan to meet late at night and didn’t tell anybody. _No one_. He even wore his dress uniform! Didn’t bring any of his other stuff, right? Because he could come back for that later. But the broke-ass lord told him to bring the family jewels and cash, ‘cause they’d need it for the license and the priest.” Luis looked around, making eye contact with his audience. “So the Sergeant, he went to the big oak tree next to the graveyard, yeah? It was so foggy, you couldn’t hardly see _anything_.”

Wilson started to lose patience, “And then what happened, Luis?”

“He waited.” Luis said simply, eyebrow raised, leaving his audience on the edge of their seats.

“Come on! And then?” Clint echoed.

Luis’s eyes flew open, “There! In the shadows – was it his man?”

Steve, the mouse, gasped, even though he knew this story better than anyone else, “And then?”

“His heart beat so loud!” Luis was wringing every bit of drama he could out of this. “And then, baby, everything went black and when he opened his eyes, right? Sarge was totally dead, and he’s like, ‘What? Aw, no, man!’ but like he didn’t even care about the jewels, you know, because he’s like, ‘Damn, I thought I was gonna be with him forever, but now I’m all alone and my heart’s all broken, but I’m gonna wait here next to this tree for true love.’ And then totally out of nowhere, this new guy shows up, like ‘Look at this hairdo, man, I am here for a _wedding_ ,’ and vows to stand by his side forever, no matter what because he’s the Sergeant’s one true partner and like _nothing_ can separate you.” Luis sat back and smiled, “And that’s the story, man.”

When the room turned back to where Tony had been standing, though, the young man was gone.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Meanwhile, Virginia Potts stood gazing out the window into the night, twisting her fingers nervously.

“Virginia! Come away from the window,” her mother ordered.

Virginia took the few steps from the window to rejoin the conversation, though she wasn’t actually expected to participate.

Tony’s father tried to smile reassuringly at her parents, “I’m sure he’ll be back shortly.”

“He’s terrified of the dark. In fact, when he was a boy –” Mrs. Stark started, but her husband elbowed her, cutting her off because she needed to concentrate for the moment on not spilling her tea.

Virginia breathed a sigh of relief for the knock at the door that interrupted this whole thread of conversation.

“Enter!” her father, Lord Potts said loudly enough to be heard through the heavy door.

Lord Pierce opened the door with a flourish, looking rather shark-like and superior, Virginia thought. She concealed her distaste for the man as best she could.

Her mother stood and smiled, “Ah! Lord Pierce, I trust the room is to your liking.”

“Thank you, you are a most gracious hostess… which is why it pains me to be the bearer of such bad news.” Lord Pierce crossed the room slowly to the sofa.

Virginia didn’t think he looked particularly pained. In fact, she thought she caught the glint of glee in his eyes, but that could very well be her youthful feminine imagination. She stood still in her place behind the sofa.

Pierce waved his hand and a small grimy boy with a stack of newspapers under his arm entered and squared his shoulders.

“Would you care to repeat tonight’s headline for us?” Lord Pierce asked silkily.

The boy nodded sharply, “’Course, guv’. ANTHONY STARK SEEN THIS NIGHT ON THE BRIDGE IN THE ARMS OF A MYSTERY MAN! THE DARK-HAIRED RAKE AND MASTER STARK SLIPPED AWAY INTO THE NIGHT!”

The barest hint of a smirk hovered at the corner of Lord Pierce’s lips. “Enough! That will be all.”

The boy clicked his heels together with another nod, bowed, and then strolled away.

Mr. Stark spluttered, “Mystery man? He doesn’t have any _friends…_.”

Sniffing disdainfully, Pierce hummed with feigned sympathy, “Or so you thought.”

This spectacle was enough to make Virginia so furious she dug her fingernails into the back of the sofa to keep herself from interrupting or expressing her opinion of Lord Pierce aloud and then as the newsboy’s words sank in, to steady herself. _What?_ Tony wouldn’t do that… there had to be some kind of mistake.

Lord Pierce, walked smugly to the parlor door and inclined his head toward them all, “Do call for me if you need my assistance – in any way.” He shut the door behind him, leaving the room in a stunned silence.

Virginia felt like all the air had left the room and gasped softly, before realizing her mouth had dropped open. She closed it belatedly, after one of the sofa’s upholstery pins pricked her finger.

“Goodness, Potts, what shall we do?” Virginia’s mother said as she began to pace.

Her father growled, “Fetch my musket!”

Mrs. Stark inhaled audibly, “Howard! Do something!”

Mr. Stark walked to Lord Potts and placed a hand on his shoulder. “The lad probably just had slow night. You know how it is – they need shout about something to sell newspapers.”

“Regardless – we are one groom short for the wedding tomorrow!” Lord Potts snarled before his face fell and he muttered, “Imagine the financial implications….”

The Lady moaned, “A most scandalous embarrassment for us all!”

“Give us a chance to find him. Just give us until dawn,” Mrs. Stark pleaded.

With a disdainful sniff, Lady Potts nodded, “Very well then, until dawn.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Tony!” Bucky called out into the street in the city of the dead that was his home. Plenty of passersby paused their conversations to nod to him.

Thor bumped into him on the sidewalk, “It pains me to mention this my brother in arms, but your boyfriend seems easily startled.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, he’s my husband,” Bucky muttered to himself. Then raising his voice again, he called, “Tony? Where have you gone?”

Steve scurried up to perch on his shoulder, “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

Bucky scanned the alleys, when Steve squeaked excitedly from below his right ear, “There he is! There! He’s getting away!”

“Tony! Where are you?” Bucky’s voice echoed off the cobblestones that paved the streets and the bricks of the buildings on either side of the narrow alleys as he tried to follow his husband through the city’s twisting streets.

“He went that way!” Natasha, a black widow spider, shouted from the lane on the left.

“Thank you!” Bucky called back. “Tony? Helloooooo?” the hopeful note still hadn’t gone from his voice. He climbed the stairs of the tower nearby to get a better view, then felt something grab his ankle. When he looked down, he was surprised to see Tony looking up at him, panting. “You could’ve just used the stairs, silly,” Bucky said, laughing as he offered Tony a hand up, pulling him up and over the railing.

Bucky smiled at Tony, “Isn't the view beautiful? It takes my breath away. Well, it would if I had any.” He chuckled lamely at his own joke and sat on the bench in this viewing deck. “It’s kind of romantic, don’t you think?” He patted the bench next to him and Tony followed, sitting beside him.

“Look, I am terribly sorry about what's happened to you and I would like to help. But I really need to get home,” Tony seemed to be trying to explain something simple.

Bucky shook his head, not understanding, “This is your home now, doll.”

“But I don’t even know your name,” Tony protested.

From Bucky’s breast pocket, Steve piped up, “Well, that’s a great way to start a marriage.”

Looking down at his jacket, Bucky hissed, “Shhh! Shut up, jerk!” He smiled at Tony, “It’s Bucky – Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes – but my friends call me Bucky.”

“Bucky,” Tony repeated, quietly to himself.

“Oh! I almost forgot. I have something for you. It’s a wedding present.” Bucky smiled expectantly at Tony and presented him with a… well, actually a rather bedraggled-looking box, but it had been the best he could do on short notice.

Tony picked up the box uncertainly and gave it a shake. His brow furrowed upon hearing a rustling rattle inside.

Bucky bit his lip with anticipation. He was sure Tony would like this… _but what if he didn’t?_

Placing the box in his lap, Tony lifted the lid off the gift box and gasped, covering his mouth for a moment, speechless. Then he slowly retrieved a bone between thumb and forefinger. He leaned away a bit. “Th- Thank you,” Tony said, hastily.

Then the whole box began to vibrate and tumbled off Tony’s lap, the bones inside spilled around their feet, shook for a moment, and then reassembled themselves as Bucky and Tony watched. The small skeleton barked happily and wagged a bony tail, red collar with a gold tag between its teeth.

Tony took the collar from the skele-dog and looked more closely at the tag. “Dummy? Dummy. It’s my dog, Dummy!”

Dummy wiggled, delighted, and yapped, jumping up into Tony’s lap to nuzzle Tony’s cheek.

“Who’s a good boy, Dummy?” Tony petted his dog’s head and seemed impressed.

Bucky chuckled, “I knew you’d be happy to see him.” That wasn’t quite true, but he’d certainly _hoped_ Tony would be glad to see his dog again.

Dummy jumped down and ran in a circle trying to chase his tail, before jumping up between them again for more pets.

“What a cutie,” Bucky said, smiling.

“You should’ve seen him with fur,” Tony agreed, a shade more solemnly.

Bucky laughed at the joke anyway.

“Father never approved of Dummy jumping up like this.” A cloud of emotions passed over Tony’s face, “But then again, he never approved of anything.”

“He’d never have approved of me,” Bucky ventured.

Tony half-laughed, “Well, you’re lucky you’ll never have to meet him.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me), Chapter 3  
> Collaborator(s): Faustess (3059 for TSB)  
> Squares Filled: TSB – R1: Angst  
> BBB – U3: “Don’t say it!”  
> SBB – N3: Free Space  
> Ship/Main Pairing: ChillyPepperony (Tony/Bucky/Pepper)  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags/Warnings: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements  
> Summary: Tony likes Sergeant Bucky Barnes and if they'd met under other circumstances, he could have been happy. But Bucky's dead... and Tony's not. Meanwhile, the Potts's are short one groom for the wedding. And our favorite field mouse is _livid_  
>  Word Count: 4787

Tony couldn’t quite say how he’d gotten the idea. It had just kind of… sprung to life in his mind. As pleasant as Sergeant Barnes – Bucky – seemed to be, Tony’s first thought was still how to get out of this world full of dead folk and talking bugs and mice.

He set Dummy down on the ground and twisted his fingers, “Actually… I think you should…. In fact, since we’re… married… you should definitely meet my father. And my mother too! We should go see them right now!”

Bucky’s eyes widened and a smile slowly spread across his face, “That’s a fantastic idea! Where are they buried?”

Tony turned away, a wave of guilt crawling under his skin. Bucky seemed so… nice. It felt wrong to deceive him… but he was betrothed to Virginia and hadn’t _meant_ to marry Bucky… it was an accident. How could he have known with all the other dead branches, that one was really a skeletal arm?

“What? What is it?” Bucky asked, concerned.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Tony said, “They’re not from around here...”

“Where are they, then?” Bucky sounded like he actually _cared_. Like he’d go bring their bodies back himself if they’d been purloined or somehow misappropriated.

Tony’s stomach sank and he loathed himself even more when he forced his hand to point up toward the surface. He still couldn’t look Bucky in the eye.

Bucky gasped, understanding, “Oh… they’re still alive…”

“I’m afraid so,” Tony agreed. At least that rang true, but what kind of unnatural son was he that he’d say something like that about his parents? His shoulders slumped.

“Hmmm.. That is a problem,” Bucky said, deep in thought.

Bucky slipped his hand into Tony’s and led the way downstairs to a courtyard garden full of the most unusual plants Tony had ever seen. Some looked like jack-in-the-pulpits that he was familiar with from springtime walks in the woods, only they were a deep burgundy color and stood waist high. Others had long, cascading clusters of creamy pale bell-shaped flowers with a surprisingly pleasing scent.

Dummy yapped and trotted joyfully as they walked, darting away occasionally to chase moths. “We could…” Bucky started after several moments of silence.

Tony had been enjoying the garden and the companionable silence so much that he started at the sound.

“Nah… I’d hate to bother him…” Bucky mumbled to himself.

“Who?” Tony asked, curious.

“Well…, why not?” Bucky muttered with a shrug, seeming to have come to a decision. “Doctor Strange,” he said by way of an explanation.

Tony wasn’t sure he liked the sound of this fellow, but being in a place without animate corpses and skeletons did seem to be more desirable than… well… the land of the dead. Even if that meant bringing his spouse home to the Starks’ gaudy townhouse – or worse, going to live with Lord and Lady Potts. At least here, the people seemed to be friendly and not nearly so formal as in the land of the living. He smiled to himself, remembering how the guy at the bar had told Bucky’s story.

Bucky brought them to a crumbling manor house with large windows, all with the curtains drawn tightly. The building noticeably sagged on one side, but must have been a vision when new. Dummy bounded up the steps and inside, yapping all the way, when Bucky opened the door.

“Sh! Dummy – don’t be rude!” Bucky hissed in a whisper. Hesitantly, Bucky looked around and called softly, “Doctor Strange… are you there? Hello? Anyone home?”

Tony looked around and nearly ran into a stack of books taller than he was. Once his eyes adjusted to the gloom, Tony could see that the room they’d entered was a large hall with bookshelves from floor to ceiling and stacks of books piled high seemingly at random.

 _A Familiar History of the Summerlands_ by Elder Gutkneckt? _Swan’s Popular Guide to Boggarts_? Tony couldn’t help but scan the titles and feel envious. _The Rambling Botanist_ by Hibbard! He had that one himself! An excited flutter darted through Tony’s chest that had nothing to do with their expedition. That learning didn’t stop after death opened a floodgate of wonderful possibilities.

Tony was so delighted, that his elbow bumped the next stack of books and sent them toppling, which startled a sharp bark out of Dummy. At Dummy’s bark, a murder of crows cawed and flapped loudly from where they’d been perched, nearly invisible in the shadows, now heading out the broken skylight above.

A carpet – no – a cape rose from the opposite end of the hall, gliding toward them, a hand carrying a lantern. “There you are.”

“Indeed. There _you_ are.” The tall, _floating_ skeleton agreed with a deeper voice than Tony had imagined skeletons might have. Not that he’d put much thought into that up to this point.

“I’ve brought my husband, Tony,” Bucky smiled, gesturing to Tony.

“What’s that? Husband?” the skeleton Tony assumed to be Doctor Strange sounded decidedly skeptical.

“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” Tony managed to say and gave a little wave, forgetting his manners altogether. _I should have bowed…_ , he chastised himself internally.

“We need to go up. Upstairs? To visit the land of the living,” Bucky replied, seeming not to notice Strange’s doubts.

Strange floated past and retrieved a book, tucking it under his arm. “Land of the living?” he scoffed.

Bucky picked up Tony’s hand and took it between both his cool, pale hand and the skeletal one. “Please, Doctor Strange?”

Strange snorted, “Now why do you want to go up there, when people are dying to get down here?”

Tony spoke up again, “Please, sir… it means so much to me… us.”

Bucky looked at Tony and smiled encouragingly.

Doctor Strange floated down to the floor. If a skeleton could frown and raise an eyebrow, Tony felt sure this one would.

“I don’t know… it’s just not natural,” Strange grumbled.

Bucky released Tony’s hand and held Strange’s hand in supplication. “Please, Doctor. There must be something you can do.”

Strange looked for a long moment at Bucky. _A moment too long_ , Tony thought to himself, testily. Not that he was jealous.

Then the Doctor patted Bucky’s hand, “Fine. Let me see what I can do.” Strange didn’t so much agree as declare. “Where did I put that book? I left it here somewhere…” He floated up and around the room, leaving dust swirling and scattering a few more moths that Dummy barked at and began to chase.

“There’s the one.” The book hovered in front of Strange, pages turning so fast they seemed to blur together. “I have it. A Ukrainian haunting spell. Just the thing for these quick trips.”

Bucky leaned closer to Tony and whispered, “I’m so glad you thought of this.”

He sounded so happy that Tony felt the guilt twist inside him again. “Me too,” he mumbled.

Doctor Strange cleared his throat and produced a hand-sized silver egg from a cabinet drawer. “Ah, here we have it. Ready?”

Tony got the distinct impression the man was looking down his nose at him.

“Just remember – when you want to come back, say ‘Hopscotch.’” Humor edged Strange’s words.

“Hopscotch?” Bucky asked, laughing.

To Tony, it was clear enough why Strange had made the word something funny – just to make Bucky laugh. A laugh which was far more agreeable than Tony was willing to admit at the moment. If this Doctor wizard-person liked Bucky so much, why hadn’t he done something about it? Why wait until Bucky was already married? Tony tried to push away his grumpy thoughts.

“That’s it,” Strange confirmed and cracked the egg, a yellowish mist surrounded them… smelling mostly of very faded perfume and only very slightly of sulfur.

When the mist dissolved around them, Tony felt the cold bite of the winter air around them. He looked over to see Bucky staring, transfixed, at the moon.

“I’ve spent so long in the darkness, I’d almost forgotten how beautiful the moonlight is,” Bucky said, his voice hushed with awe. He turned his head to look at Tony and smiled, offering his hand, “Care to dance?”

Bucky pulled him into something like a waltz and they glided, taking a full turn around the clearing in the woods.

 _It’s now or never, Stark._ “Hold on. I… think I should… prepare mother and father for the big news. I. Think… you should… wait. Here.”

Bucky sat down on a tree stump, and grinned, “Perfect.”

“I won’t be gone long,” Tony tried to sound confident and reassuring. “Stay right here.” He slowly backed away, toward the bridge and the town. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” Bucky said, swinging his feet a little. He smiled at Tony, happy, pleased, _trusting_.

Tony jogged a few steps away, then came back, “No peeking!”

Bucky laughed and Tony wished… well, that everything was different… as he made haste for Virginia’s home.

Tony ran as fast as his pinchy dress shoes would carry him and arrived, panting, at Potts Manor. Raising his hand to knock, he heard the bolt slide into place, locking the door. From the other side of the door, he could hear Lord Potts cursing, “If I ever see that Stark boy again, I’ll strangle him with my bare hands!”

“Your hands are too fat,” Lady Potts snarled. “You’ll have to use a rope.”

Tony’s eyes widened in horror as he brought his hand to his neck unconsciously and backed away to find some other way inside.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Meanwhile in the cemetery, Bucky waited, hunched forward, elbows on his knees. He sighed heavily and heard a small voice murmuring in his ear. “This is the voice of your conscience speaking. I have a bad feeling about that guy. He’s been gone too long.”

Bucky turned his head to glare at the little brown mouse on his shoulder, who quickly darted under his collar and into his shirt. “Shut up, Steve. Tony went to see his parents – just like he said.”

Steve snorted from somewhere near Bucky’s right shoulder. “Yeah sure, pal. You’re out of your mind if you believe that.”

“I’m sure he’s got a perfectly good reason for takin’ so long,” Bucky said, trying to sound reasonable. He twisted his fingers nervously, though. They _had_ been waiting a long time.

Steve scrambled out the end of Bucky’s sleeve to perch on his elbow, little brown ears twitching with indignation. “Sure he does, Buck – why don’t you go ask him?”

“Fine! I will!” Bucky growled and glared at his friend.

Pausing to clean his whiskers, Steve said, “Great! He couldn’t have gotten far with those cold feet.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tony scrambled around to the side of the house and found it covered with thick, gnarled vines of ivy. He stared at the vines with grim determination. The only thing he’d ever climbed before was a staircase, well, and the cliffside in the land of the dead, but apparently desperate times called for desperate measures.

His hands burned from still forming blisters as he clambered over the second story balcony railing as quietly as he could. _Thank the gods – the shutters weren’t closed!_ Peering inside, he could see the back of Pep – no Virginia’s – strawberry blonde head. He’d never felt so relieved in his life and knocked as quietly as he could, hoping he wouldn’t startle her too badly.

Pep – no. Virginia. _Virginia, Virginia, Virginia!_ Virginia started and turned around, but upon recognizing him, her entire face glowed with a smile and she hurried to unlatch the window.

Tony slipped in as quickly as possible and closed the glass door to the balcony again, still panting from all his exertions. “Virginia?”

“Tony!” Her face was radiant. “I’m so happy to see you! Come by the fire.” Virginia led him by the hand to sit on the small footstool near the fireplace. She sat across from him – practically knee to knee and leaned forward, still concerned, “Where have you been? Are you all right?”

Tony blinked, hardly knowing where to start, and then looked down and sighed, miserable. “I- I- I- …Oh dear.”

Virginia touched his hand, “You’re as cold as death! What’s happened to you?” Then she noticed his coat was torn, “Your coat! Tony please – tell me what happened.”

Glancing quickly at his shoulder, he had the briefest thought that he’d get lectured by his father again about his appearance and the value of making a good impression, which was frankly the least of his worries at this point. Tony sighed again, “Pepper, I confess. This morning I was terrified of marriage.” He looked at her, pleading. He was so much in earnest that he didn’t realize he’d slipped and been overly familiar with her, using a nickname. “But then upon meeting you, I felt that I should be with you always and that our wedding couldn’t come soon enough.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Virginia – though she rather liked the nickname Pepper – smiled and leaned forward, clasping both of Tony’s hands in hers. “Tony – I feel the same.” She felt tears prickle her eyes and knew they were tears of relief and joy.

Then, before she knew what was happening, Tony was leaning closer to her, the flickering of the firelight and the moon’s gentle silver illumination shone on his face and Pepper’s heart leapt. _A kiss!_ But just as her eyes started to close, Tony gasped in horror, looking over her shoulder.

She started to turn – to see what could be so awful, but Tony turned her head back to face him. His words nearly tripped over themselves trying to get out, “I seem to find myself married. And you should know it’s unexpected.”

Virginia – she felt very much like a Virginia again – felt the color drain from her face. Before she could process what Tony had said, though, the balcony door opened, the cold wind that whooshed in, and she twisted out of Tony’s hands to look. Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.

A tall man with broad shoulders stepped into her room. He wore an officer’s blue coat and brass buttons, black pants that fit very snugly around the thighs – not that a young lady would notice such a thing. This officer was easily the most powerfully built man she’d ever laid eyes on. A small part of her wished very much that she were as feisty as the nickname ‘Pepper’ implied.

Tony scrambled up onto his feet and Virginia felt herself stand, though she hardly realized she’d done it. At least if Tony saw him too she wasn’t imagining things, though.

The officer brushed off a few fallen leaves off the sleeve of his jacket. No – she must be mistaken – for a moment, she could have sworn that hand was a skeleton’s hand. “Hi doll, I just wanted to meet –” He froze upon seeing her and looked as though he’d been slapped across the face.

Tony darted between this officer and Virginia, his eyes darting between them.

“Sweetheart? Who’s this?” The officer spoke slowly and took Tony’s hand.

 _The Mysterious Dark-Haired Rake!_ Virginia stared in shock and could hardly believe it herself when she heard her own voice, “Who’s he?” She hated that she sounded so shrill and tried to not burst into hysterics.

The officer tipped his head to the side and glared at her. “I’m his husband,” then held out his hand to show off the ring. Proof.

Virginia’s head turned to Tony, “Tony?”

“V- Virginia! Wait – you don’t understand. He’s dead – look!” Tony pulled up the sleeve on the officer – his husband’s jacket to reveal a full skeletal arm.

Virginia noticed a flurry of emotions flash across Tony’s… husband’s features: shock, hurt, betrayal, and then it settled into anger. He set his jaw and grabbed Tony’s wrist. “Hopscotch!” he snarled.

And then some force was pulling them both away from her into the night. She could hear Tony cry out, “No! No – Virginia!”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

When they got back to Doctor Strange’s Sanctorum, Bucky shoved Tony away. “You lied to me! Just to get back to that woman!”

Tony gestured with his hands, “Don’t you see? You’re the man-eater here.”

“Don’t be disgusting – I’ve never eaten anyone,” Bucky growled, but he knew what Tony meant. “And you’re married to me!” His voice rose and quavered. “She’s the home wrecker.” Bucky turned around quickly and covered his face with his hands so Tony wouldn’t see the tears that had started stinging his eyes.

Doctor Strange was leaning against one of his many bookshelves (they were in his home after all). “He’s got a point,” he said, shrugging.

Bucky sniffled, “And I thought… this was all going so well.” His shoulders shook and he was sure no one in the room was fooled into thinking he’d kept his composure. He tugged a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Tony stepped closer and stood at his shoulder. His voice sounded so gentle. “This just can’t work.”

Bucky heard the tremble in his voice when he answered, “Why not?” Sun, Moon, and Stars he sounded like a petulant child. “It’s my arm, isn’t it?” he asked, resigned.

“No! Your arm is… fine,” Tony said, but he put some distance between them again, twisting his fingers as he spoke. “Under different circumstances, who knows? We’re just too different. I mean you’re dead.”

Whirling around to face Tony, Bucky shouted, “You shoulda thought of that before you asked me to marry you!”

Tony snapped back, “Why can’t you understand? It was a mistake! I’d never marry you.”

Bucky stood stock still, too shocked even to cry. Tony looked surprised himself, but what did that really matter? As Tony’s hasty, but true words sank in, the fight drained out of Bucky and he turned and walked away – just letting his feet take him wherever they wanted to go.

Eventually, he found some empty wooden coffins in one of the crooked alleys nearby and sat. He tore the stupid, desiccated white rose boutonniere from his jacket lapel and threw it down with as much force as he could for something so light.

“Eternal love – bah,” Bucky grumbled to himself. The white rose’s meaning was why he’d chosen it all those years ago, after all.

Nearby, Natasha lowered herself down a silvery thread of spider silk. “Why so blue?”

Bucky sighed heavily, “Maybe Tony’s right. Maybe we are too different.” He didn’t want it to be true, but maybe it was stupid to think that after all this time there’d be someone who wanted him.

Steve scrabbled his way out of Bucky’s coat pocket, “Well, I think he should have his head examined.”

“Perhaps he does belong with her.” Bucky couldn’t help curling his lip with contempt and rolled his eyes, “Little Miss Living… with her rosy cheeks and beating heart.” He sighed again and hunched forward, elbows on his knees and chin in his hands.

“Oh, that girl’s so boring! You’ve got so much more! You’ve got… you’ve got…” Natasha seemed to be wracking her Widow’s mind for something that might compensate for his deathly pallor, “a wonderful personality!”

Shaking his head sadly, Bucky went back to staring at the pavement next to his shoes.

Steve cleared his white furry throat and put his tiny paws on his hips, “What does that wispy little brat have that you don’t have double?”

Natasha bobbed in agreement. “She can’t hold a candle to your dazzling smile.”

“How about a pulse?” Bucky mumbled to himself.

“Overrated!” Steve insisted. “If he only knew the you that we know. Not that he deserves you – I just hate seeing you so broken up, Buck.”

“And that silly little creature isn’t wearing his ring,” Natasha reminded him. “And she doesn’t play piano, or dance, or sing.”

“But she breathes air…” Bucky said.

“Who cares, Buck?” Steve asked, still indignant that anybody could turn away from his best friend in the world. “Her sole redeeming feature is that she’s alive.”

Natasha bobbed again on her silken thread, “Everybody knows that’s just a temporary state! Those girls are a dime a dozen.”

Bucky didn’t look at either of his friends, just stared at the ground, “You know, if I touch a burning candle, I don’t feel anything?” He felt worse than he had even when he’d been murdered. At least he’d been able to be angry about that. But a living man wanting to marry a woman who was also alive? Who might be able to give him a family someday? Those were reasonable things to expect from a marriage. “I know I’m dead, but apparently I can still feel pain.”

Steve’s pink nose twitched in concern and he scrambled up Bucky’s jacket and into the space between his neck and collar and snuggled in. His presence was only a small comfort right now, but it helped. Bucky could feel Natasha combing his hair with her legs, trying to be comforting in her way as well.

Closing his eyes, Bucky leaned back against the ancient bricks of the building behind him, allowing himself to feel this bone-weary sadness and be soothed by his friends.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

At Potts Manor, Virginia tried to explain to her mother again what she had seen. “It’s true mother! Tony is married to a dead man!” Renegade strands of hair had started to pull out of the chic chignon when the gust of wind blew into her room earlier. “I saw him! A corpse! Standing right here with Tony!” Virginia gestured to her bedroom floor.

Indignant, Lady Potts exclaimed, “Tony was in your room?”

“We have to help him!” Virginia pleaded.

Her mother draped a hand across her brow, “The scandal!”

Darcy, Virginia’s maid reached out and took Virginia’s hands, “It’s all right, I’ll fetch you something sweet and help chase those nightmares away. Everything will be fine.”

 _…Did Darcy fear for her sanity?_ Virginia caught sight of herself in the looking glass at her dressing table. Disheveled, hair askew, clutching at her dress and twisting her fingers…. She did indeed appear very much to resemble a gothic heroine of the ‘hidden in the attic’ variety. _Oh dear._

Lady Potts swatted Darcy’s hands away from Virginia’s. “Fetch her a straitjacket! She’s completely mad!” Her mother looked down her nose at Virginia, “Come, Darcy.” Shooing the maid out of Virginia’s room, Lady Potts produced the key to the bedroom with a flourish… and locked Virginia in.

Virginia backed away from her bedroom door, reeling. _They think me mad. How can I be any help to Tony now?_

Bumping into her balcony door, she thought of that last glimpse of Tony being pulled away from her into the very maw of darkness. She rested her forehead on the cool glass panes and took a deep breath, then whispered to herself, “‘The very maw of darkness,’ indeed. You’ve been reading too many novels Virginia Elizabeth Potts.”

Her eyes fell on the balcony door’s handle. Virginia brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face and tried the handle. After a worrisome moment where the door stuck and a frantic jiggle of the handle, the door gave way.

Virginia walked to the edge of her balcony and looked back at her curtains and bedclothes, calculating their yardage. She set her jaw and went to work, fashioning as sturdy a rope as she could and secured it to the balcony railing and began lowering herself down.

Halfway down, Virginia heard the distinct sound of fabric tearing and she fell to the ground with a gasp just in time to see her parents leave the room. She waited a moment, but they didn’t return, so they must not have heard anything. Standing slowly, to determine if she’d been injured, Virginia straightened her spine and pressed her lips together in determination, then pulled the remainder of the quilt over her as a cloak and made her way to the parish church.

Virginia walked as fast as she could, cursing her corsetry the whole way. By the time she reached the church on the other side of the bridge, the quilt was heavy with water from the storm. The large iron door knocker made a heavy, clanking thud against the old oak planks of the church door.

“What in Heaven’s name is going on out there?” Reverend Fury grumbled as he opened the door.

Pulling back her makeshift cloak, Virginia felt damp tendrils of hair curl against her forehead.

Fury pulled back, astonished, “Miss Potts! What are you doing here? You should be at home, prostrate with grief.”

Summoning her courage, Virginia asked, “Reverend Fury, I have to ask you something.”

“This is unacceptable. Most irregular.” Reverend Fury started to close the door.

“Please – I’m begging you. You are the only one living who knows what awaits beyond the grave.”

Fury stopped, considering, in spite of himself, “A grim topic for a bride-to-be.”

“It is a bride – well, a husband – I fear… Which is why I must know – ” Virginia’s words nearly choked her with emotion, “Can the living marry the dead?”

The Reverend leaned away, “What on Earth are you talking about?”

Virginia tried to clarify, “Please, it’s Tony. He’s married to a corpse. There must be some way to undo what’s been done.” It was her feelings for Tony that gave her the audacity to speak to the Reverend so boldly.

Nodding slightly to himself, Reverend Fury said, “I believe I know what to do. Come with me.”

For a moment Virginia thought he meant to help her and her heart soared, only to have the Reverend pull on his heavy coat and boots and drag her back to Potts Manor. Her mother answered his knock at the door. Her Ladyship did not seem happy to see her.

“She’s speaking in tongues of unholy alliances! Her mind has come undone, I fear,” Reverend Fury said, sounding distinctly put out about being hounded out of bed at such an unreasonable hour.

“It’s not true! Let me go! Let me go!” Virginia couldn’t help but struggle. She needed to find some way to help Tony…. And his husband had looked so betrayed – had Tony not told him that he was going to be married? Had he been married the whole time? _No, no, surely not - that was silly._

“Thank you, Reverend. Good night,” Lady Potts said, the picture of politeness. As soon as the door closed, she cried, “Take her to her room!”

“No, I’m telling the truth! Tony needs my help!” Victoria shot a pleading glance at Darcy, who had taken one of her arms firmly, while the butler took her other. “Darcy, you believe me, don’t you?”

“Seal the doors and bar the windows. See to it that she doesn’t escape again!” Her Ladyship ordered.

Virginia struggled, but both Darcy and the family’s butler were stronger than they looked. From the top of the staircase, she heard her mother say, “Will the mortification never cease? It will be years before we can show ourselves in public again! What shall we do?”

Her father spoke, but by that time, Virginia was too far away to hear what he said.

As soon as the key turned in the lock, Virginia had tried to pry the door open with the fireplace poker. Sweating and panting with her exertions, she almost didn’t hear the key in the door this time. She tucked the poker behind her back just in time for her parents to sweep into her room.

“Good news, Virginia,” her father said. “There’ll be a wedding after all.”

A happy smile flickered to life at Virginia’s lips, “You’ve found him?”

Her mother waved her hand, “Make haste my dear. Our relatives will arrive at any moment. We must have you looking presentable for Lord Pierce.”

Virginia couldn’t believe her ears. “Lord Pierce,” she repeated numbly.

“Lord Pierce will make a fine husband,” Lady Potts nodded as she rubbed her hands together.

“A fortuitous turn of events indeed,” Lord Potts agreed. “A far better prospect this time.”

The floor felt as though it might fall out from beneath her feet at any time. “But I don’t love him,” Virginia murmured, appealing to her parents. “You cannot make me do this,” she said, feeling more resolute.

“You must,” grunted her father.

“Please – there must be another way!” Virginia clasped her hands in supplication.

His Lordship, her father, scowled at her, “Without your marriage to Lord Pierce, we shall be forced penniless into the streets. We are destitute.”

“But Tony…” Virginia rubbed her hands together, clasping and unclasping her fingers in nervous agitation.

“Anthony is gone, child,” Lady Potts said airily.

“You will marry Lord Pierce tomorrow,” her father declared.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me), Chapter 4  
> Collaborator(s): Faustess (3059 for TSB)  
> Squares Filled: TSB – A3: Free Square (Happy Ending)  
> BBB – C3: Free Square
> 
> Ship/Main Pairing: ChillyPepperony (Tony/Bucky/Pepper)  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags/Warnings: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements  
> Summary: Tony apologizes and realizes his feelings for Bucky go deeper than he'd realized. Later, Dr. Strange points out that they aren't truly married because Tony is unfortunately _alive_. Count along - there will be three weddings and a (very hasty) funeral in this chapter!  
> Word Count: 4803

Later, in what was probably the morning, as best Tony could figure out, he found the white rose boutonniere. More accurately, Dummy found it and brought it to him, wagging his bony little tail proudly.

“Good boy Dummy,” Tony tried to sound excited and pleased, but it was difficult.

 _‘It was a mistake! I’d never marry you,’_ echoed in his head. It wasn’t even totally true. Sure, all of this was sudden… and something he’d never dreamed of happening – who would? On the other hand, Bucky wanted _him_ – not his family’s money or connections with the nouveau riche.

Tony sighed, sitting in the courtyard garden with the strange plants he’d noticed earlier and rolled the stem of rose between his fingers He supposed regardless of how Bucky felt about him now they were married and even if Bucky wanted to have their marriage annulled, Tony still owed him an apology.

He finally found Bucky in the basement tavern where he’d first met Bucky’s friends and heard about how Bucky had been betrayed by the other man who’d promised to marry him. The bar was empty at this hour and Bucky trailed his fingers along the keys of the piano. As Tony listened, the random notes started to blend themselves into a mournful melody, sounding sad and lonely only played with one hand.

Hovering a few steps away from the piano bench, Tony held out the white rose. “I… think you dropped this.”

Bucky didn’t look up from the piano keys, his broad shoulders slumped. He didn’t give any indication that he’d heard Tony at all.

Tony carefully placed the boutonniere next to the sheets of music on the piano tray and turned to go. Sighing, he chastised himself for his cowardice. _Some apology, Stark._ He took a deep breath and turned back to Bucky. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I lied to you about wanting to see my parents.”

Bucky still didn’t look up from the melancholy tune he was playing.

“It’s just that… just that…” Tony exhaled, “today hasn’t quite gone… according to plan.” He sat on the other end of the piano bench, but was careful to keep as much space between Bucky and himself as possible. Earlier, he might have done this to stay away from Bucky, but right now Tony saw it as a consideration to the man he was married to. Why would he want to cozy up with someone who’d said such awful, hurtful things? “And that’s not your fault. I’m sorry.”

When Bucky didn’t respond this time either, Tony didn’t hold out much hope of salvaging whatever they’d started building. Still, when the music paused, Tony added his own little counter melody.

Bucky glared daggers at him and when Tony stopped, he resumed playing again. In the next pause, though, Tony elaborated on the piece he’d played before. He looked at the back of Bucky’s head hopefully and added a light-hearted trill.

Seeming to take that trill as a challenge, Bucky dove in, playing a much more complicated piece than Tony’s that somehow was a perfect counterpoint – harmonious, but not _in harmony_. It was the most beautiful music Tony had ever heard.

Bucky stole a glance at Tony and smirked in response to Tony’s open smile. Then Bucky’s arm detached and fell into Tony’s lap. Staring, embarrassed, Bucky said, “Uh… pardon my enthusiasm.”

Tony reached over to reattach the skeletal arm, “I like your enthusiasm.” The smile he received in response gave Tony hope. 

“You need to eat something? Let me find somethin’ for you.” After rummaging in the kitchen for quite some time, Bucky returned with a bowl of soup. 

“Thank you very much,” Tony said with a smile. “Listen…”

“Can I say something?” Bucky interrupted.

“Of course,” Tony answered.

“I was thinking that I… maybe expected too much from you… I didn’t realize that you didn’t know what you were doing. And you kept tryin’ to tell me… but I just wasn’t listening. I was too happy to hear it. …I’m sorry too.” Bucky watched him stir the soup and sample it.

“Not bad! The soup, I mean. Very unusual!” Tony sipped the soup from his spoon as politely as possible. He was not going to ask what was in it, just trusting Bucky not to try to kill him off. “And I really don’t think you have anything to apologize for… You’ve been nothing but kind to me and I’ve been beastly to you.”

“You came back to apologize,” Bucky offered with a small smile.

“I don’t believe this…” a small voice squeaked from Bucky’s coat pocket. “Let me know when you’re done being sappy an’ moon-eyed over each other.”

Laughing, Tony said, “I think I’m starting to like that guy.”

Bucky grinned, “Maybe he can live in your clothes for a while.”

Steve scampered halfway back, “I hate both of you.” Then, scurried away out of the tavern.

Hungrier than he’d realized, Tony set down his spoon and picked up the bowl to drink the soup.

While he ate, Bucky shuffled his feet, then sat down across from Tony. “I was thinking…” He looked down and then back up at Tony, “I… went to Doctor Strange and got another charm from him. …I can take you back up.”

Tony set down his bowl, sure that he’d misheard, “What?” _Don’t show off all that eloquence at once Tony Stark…_

“I can take you back… I don’t know… marriage is ‘til death do us part’ and I’m already dead… so…” Bucky’s tone of voice was hesitant, but neutral.

Tony’s eyes widened, more surprised than anything, but also less pleased than he thought he’d be. “That’s… very generous of you.”

Bucky shrugged, face neutral. “If you didn’t mean it, it isn’t real anyway.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bucky was honestly surprised that Tony didn’t seem elated. “There’s no catch – it’s not a thing where you ate our food and have to stay. I’ll just take you home and that’s it.”

“That’s it,” Tony repeated to himself, staring into his half-eaten bowl of soup. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” He figured Tony would ask why he was doing this and he was ready to give a fuller answer if Tony wanted one.

Tony looked up, the depths of his dark eyes just drew Bucky in. “Why were you so sure about me? How did you know about the vows and everything?”

Bucky shifted uncomfortably. _What did Tony care about how he felt?_ “I could hear you, but it was far away, but I had to pay attention… You sounded so sure… I couldn’t ignore you. Then you slid the ring on my finger and …I thought…” His carefully controlled neutral expression slipped. “I thought you loved me.” He tried to shrug it off. “It sounds stupid now. Anyway, let’s go.. Why wait, right?”

Tony took the hand Bucky offered, his hand felt so warm and alive and Bucky’s heart ached knowing this would be the last time he’d see his husband. _No, not his husband_ – that had just been wishful thinking. They walked through the wood at the edge of the churchyard in silence.

When they got to the bridge, Bucky stopped to gaze at moon from where it was peeking through the clouds one last time before turning his eyes to Tony. Tony had rested his hands on the bridge’s railing, contemplating the night sky. This time he didn’t seem to be in a hurry, though.

Then, with a sensation like he’d swallowed a stone, Bucky remembered something important. “This isn’t mine anymore, I guess.” With a twist, he slipped the ring off his finger and handed it to Tony, who just stared at it in the palm of his hand, motionless.

“This just feels all wrong somehow,” Tony said, breaking his silence.

Bucky opened his mouth to respond, but Tony interrupted. “I like you. I do.” Tony sighed and looked at the ring again before tucking it away in his pocket. “This has been the strangest, most exciting and terrifying day of my life. And now that I’m more used to the idea of you being my husband… I fear I’ll rather miss you.”

What could he do? Bucky reached out and took Tony’s hand to reassure him. “I’ll – ”

“HEAR YE, HEAR YE! STARK LAD STILL MISSING! POTTS HEIRESS TO WED MYSTERIOUS NEWCOMER THIS EVENING!” The town crier’s booming cry echoed through the brick and stone buildings of the town.

Tony’s jaw dropped. He looked like he’d been slapped across the face, then punched in the gut for good measure. “What?” he wheezed. “But Virginia… how could she?”

Bucky moved his head into Tony’s field of vision, “Maybe her parents didn’t want to waste the cake?” He was hoping Tony would laugh.

Tony managed a small smile that faded almost before it started. “Well, I suppose we should go home then.”

“What? You don’t want to stay?” Bucky asked, incredulous.

Shaking his head, Tony replied, “And be reminded every day for the rest of my life how I’ve failed my parents – again? No, thank you.” His head jerked up, 

“That is, if you’ll have me. …I was unforgivably rude.”

“I think… if that’s what you want… we should talk to Doctor Strange.” Bucky had not let go of Tony’s hand. “If you’ll forgive me for kissing you earlier.”

“I- It felt like cool… dry autumn leaves,” Tony said, then blushed. “It was nice. Very pleasant, actually – if unexpected.”

Hand in hand, they walked back into the woods they’d come from.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_Lord Pierce?!_ The rosy pink of Virginia’s cheeks had drained away with the shocking turn of events. Her face was so pale, it nearly matched the white of her wedding gown.

“We must leave for the church now, Miss Virginia,” Darcy said gently as she adjusted the bridal veil.

Virginia’s chin quivered, “But today… my wedding won’t be happy. I feel like I’m caught in the tide and pulled out to sea.”

Darcy tilted her head sympathetically, “The sea leads to many places, Miss. Maybe you’ll land somewhere better.” At the end, her voice broke and silent tears rolled down her cheeks before she turned and hurried from the room.

Virginia’s body moved. She walked. Descended the staircase. The butler guided her into the coach that took her to the church.

At present, Lord Pierce was deftly placing his white taper candle into the brass candlestick. He turned to her, “With this ring, I ask you to be _mine_.” He slid the ring on her finger.

Reverend Fury pronounced them man and wife. It was over. The only sound that penetrated the sawdust feeling in Virginia’s mind was the sound of Darcy sniffling and blowing her nose in the back of the church.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bucky and Tony stood before Doctor Strange who searched through an even larger book than he had the last time they’d gone to visit him. “Well,” Strange said after reading and frowning at the page several times, “there is one way. It requires the greatest sacrifice.”

Tony watched Bucky cross his arms and scowl at the Doctor… magician… whatever he was. “What is it?” Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nonplussed, Strange made eye contact with Bucky, then Tony. “Tony would need to give up the life he had – forever. He needs to repeat his vows in the land of the living and then drink the Wine of Ages. That would stop his heart – only then would he be free to give it to you,” Strange said solemnly.

Bucky gasped, “Poison?! No – I can’t ask him to do that.”

“You don’t have to.” Tony tucked his hand in the crook of Bucky’s elbow and whispered, “I’ll do it.”

Everything moved quickly after that – Natasha fixed the tears in Tony’s wedding clothes and scurried off before he could properly thank her. It seemed everyone in this little underworld community was going to the surface with them to be part of the ceremony.

Tony paced around, waiting for Bucky with his husband-to-be’s friends, Clint and Sam. Even Steve had scurried up to his shoulder and was still, even now whispering threats of what he’d do to Tony if he broke Bucky’s heart this time. “I’ll chew holes in all your socks! I’ll bite your toes while you sleep!”

“I won’t this time – I promise,” Tony tried to assure Bucky’s mousy little friend.

When Bucky stepped out, he took Tony’s breath away. Natasha had apparently hurried off to repair Bucky’s clothes as well. They were unmistakably from the underworld, but free from holes and tears now, he looked very dashing indeed. Dummy darted around and between everyone’s legs yapping happily.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Virginia sat to Lord Pierce’s right at the small table for the wedding party. In her opinion the dining hall had never seemed more dismal. The faded silk wallpaper bled away into the shadows in the corners of the room. The fire from the fireplace and a handful of candles were all the light they had for the wedding dinner.

Looking around the table she saw her parents, a couple of Lord Potts’s friends from his club, and several Very Aged aunts. When Darcy brought out the tiniest wedding cake Virginia had ever seen, she could hardly bring herself to care. This disappointment was miniscule compared to the others she’d endured in the last thirty-two hours, but that even this small pleasure was taken from her made her want to cry and laugh at the same time. It was a blessing really, that no one spoke to her or really expected her to be happy.

They hadn’t even cut the cake yet when Lord Pierce stood up to make his toast. “Quiet everyone,” he said unnecessarily. It was like a tomb in the dining room. Virginia had been to funerals livelier than this. “Thank you! Elegant, cultured, radiant – Virginia has found a husband with all these qualities and more. Serendipity brought us together and no force on earth can tear us apart.”

She could scarcely believe her ears – _was he serious?!_ Common courtesy and etiquette demanded that a groom say something complimentary about the bride – not that she particularly wanted his compliments – but Virginia felt offended all over again.

As she stared down the length of the dining table, forcing her face to not show the disgust she felt with this man – _her husband_ – the lights in the room took on an unearthly glow. Ghostly green flames leapt from the fireplace. For a moment, it seemed that nothing else would happen, but then skeletons started to creep out from the shadows.

The room dissolved into chaos when one Very Aged aunt shrieked. Virginia stood, but remained where she was, as if her feet were stuck to the ground. A small skeletal dog yapped at Lady Potts’s feet as her Ladyship stood on a chair screaming. Lord Pierce crawled under the table to hide from the parade of the dead traipsing through Potts Manor.

Lord Potts beat a hasty retreat from Grandfather Potts and the pandemonium spilled out onto the street. Virginia sat back down in her place at the wedding table to dazedly survey the destruction. _Well, surely it couldn’t get any worse._

Pierce slithered out from under the table and smoothed his hair. He started stalking behind Virginia’s chair. “Right. That’s it. We’re going to take whatever money we can and get out of here.”

Virginia turned her head in disbelief. “Money? What money?”

“Your dowry!” Lord Pierce snarled, “It’s my right!”

Blinking, Virginia said, “My parents don’t have any money. It’s my marriage to you that will save them from the poorhouse.”

“Th- the- the,” Pierce stammered, “poorhouse?!” He gripped Virginia by her shoulders and pulled her out of her chair and shook her. “It’s a lie! Tell me it isn’t true! You’re lying!”

“Did things not go according to your plan, Lord Pierce?” Virginia had never felt so confident in her life. She shoved him away. “Well, perhaps, Lord Pierce, in disappointment we are perfectly matched.”

She hurried out of the room, leaving Pierce behind still snarling and sputtering. Once outside though, she found the dead speaking with their living loved ones – some walking arm in arm, others holding hands. They all seemed to be heading toward the church on the other side of the bridge.

Virginia trailed behind them across the bridge.

“Begone, ye demons from Hell! Back to the void from whence you came! You shall not enter here! Back... back... back.” Reverend Fury shouted as he tried to keep both the dead and the living out of the church.

“Keep it down! This is a church!” a small mouse squeaked as the stream of people living and dead stepped past the minister.

Fury’s eyepatch twitched with shock that his words had no effect and it took him several moments to move out of the way.

Virginia waited until everyone was seated and she heard the music stop before tiptoeing into the church to hide behind a pillar to the side as close to the altar as she could without being seen.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tony stood expectantly at the altar. Doctor Strange stood behind the altar waiting as patiently as he could. Tony thought the man would probably be glad for the two of them to stop pestering him.

That train of thought screeched to a halt though when the first strains of violins caused all eyes to turn to the back of the church. The music filled the air and, while not jubilant, to Tony, it filled his soul with the solemnity and promise of the moment.

When Bucky stepped into the church and slowly walked down the aisle, Tony couldn’t take his eyes off him. Compared to the first time they’d married, Bucky looked nervous and Tony tried to smile reassuringly, though he felt his eyes tearing up, so he wasn’t sure how effective he was. Tony took Bucky’s hand when he got close enough and gave it an encouraging squeeze and blinked back his own tears.

Doctor Strange straightened his spine and looked between Tony and Bucky, looking them in the eye until the corner of his mouth turned up. Looking at the friends and family gathered, he began the ceremony. “Dearly beloved… and departed… we are gathered here today to unite this man and this corpse.” He gestured to Tony, “You first.”

“With this hand I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine.” Tony picked up the cup and held it between them and couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t remember being so happy and sure of himself.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Now your part,” Doctor Strange said softly to Bucky.

Bucky saw the light in Tony’s eyes and the way they crinkled at the corners when he smiled. Bucky smiled, “With this hand I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your w – ” He stopped short, noticing Virginia watching them from her place next to the pillar.

Virginia gasped, apparently not having anticipated being spotted.

A sudden wave of indecision overtook him. “I will be…”

Tony nodded and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“Your cup,” Bucky tried again, “will never empty. For I will be…”

“Your wine.” Tony finished for him and began raising the cup to his lips.

As fast as he could, Bucky covered the top of the cup with his hand. The look of dismay on Tony’s face stabbed at his heart, but he couldn’t do it. Taking the life of someone on the battlefield was one thing. Taking the life of someone he cared about? He shook his head. “I can’t,” he whispered, eyes prickling with tears.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked, those dark eyes that Bucky found so enchanting filled with confusion and hurt.

Tony tried to turn his head to see where Bucky was looking. Bucky cupped his cheek gently, “This is wrong… I was a groom. My dreams were taken from me. But now – now I’ve stolen them from someone else.” Tears started to slowly slide down his cheeks. “I love you Tony, but you are not mine.”

Bucky’s mouth filled with the taste of ashes and his heart ached as he gestured toward Virginia. He _did_ love Tony, but Tony didn’t deserve to die for him, though.

Tony turned to see her then, “Virginia?”

Virginia stepped closer and Bucky nodded and offered her his hand. Bucky could see the moment when hope blossomed across her face and saw in Tony’s a reciprocated fondness. He placed her hand in Tony’s and stepped back, the living couple standing at the altar, Virginia still in her wedding dress.

A snide voice from the back of the church suspended the wave of grief that felt like it would wash Bucky away. “Oh, how touching. I always cry at weddings. Finally, our two young lovers are together at last. Surely now they can live happily ever after. But you forget...” A gravely handsome man with a perpetual sneer sauntered forward. “She’s still my wife! And I’m not leaving here empty-handed!”

Now that the man was closer, though… a flood of recognition and righteous anger filled Bucky’s vision. _Lord Alexander Pierce._ “You!”

“Bucky?” For a moment, Pierce was speechless with shock. “But, but I left you.”

“For dead!” Bucky growled, his expression murderous.

The gathered friends and family gasped, horrified. They rose to their feet when Pierce grabbed Virginia away from where Tony and Bucky stood.

“This man is obviously delusional!” Lord Pierce exclaimed, then pulled her along in front of him, drawing Sam Wilson’s sword as they passed by. “Sorry to cut things short, but we must be on our way.”

Tony stepped forward, determination evident in every fiber of his being. If running away scared was cute, Bucky found this determination seductive and mourned his loss the more. Resolve echoed in every word when Tony said, “Take your hands off her.”

No one had been paying attention to Dummy, who clamped onto Pierce’s ankle. That startled the lord (if he really was one) enough to let go of Virginia. Pierce roared and slashed at Tony with the sword.

Tony managed to dodge the first blows, but then Bucky noticed Pierce was backing him into a corner. He jumped in front of his Lordship’s blade just before it struck home.

Pierce gasped and stepped back, leaving the blade behind. “Touche, my dear.”

Bucky pulled the sword from the new wound to his abdomen and pointed it at Pierce, “Get out.”

Pulling his lips back in a contemptuous snarl, “Oh, I’m leaving.” He laughed and picked up the goblet of poisoned wine from the altar, “But first! A toast, to Bucky. Still alone, hm? Tell me my dear, can a heart still break once it’s stopped beating? Hmm?”

Clint was holding Steve’s tail to keep him from attacking Pierce, “Let me at him! Let me at him! Don’t hold me back!”

Doctor Strange held his hands up, “Wait! We are amongst the living. We must abide by their rules!”

An angry mutter rippled through the assembled crowd, but Lord Pierce laughed, “Well said.” He tipped the cup back and took a long drink, then sauntered to the door. Reaching the door, Pierce doubled over, coughing and clutching his stomach.

Bucky hadn’t known a field mouse could rub its paws together so menacingly. “Not anymore!” Steve squeaked with glee at the top of his little rodent lungs.

Strange nodded, “Yes, you’re right. He’s all yours.”

The crowd surged forward, carrying most of the deceased people in the crowd – now including Lord Pierce – back to the underworld.

When they’d gone, Doctor Strange began cleaning up, putting the cork in the wine bottle.

Virginia hugged Tony, “I thought I’d never see you again.” She smiled happily and Tony seemed just as pleased.

Bucky took this as his cue to leave and tried to slip away while they were lost in their joy.

“Wait! I made a promise,” Tony said, following him.

Smiling sadly, Bucky replied, “You kept that promise. You set me free. Here.” He took off the ring again and gave it back to Tony, placing it in the palm of his hand. “Now I can do the same for you.” _I will not cry. I will not cry._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Excuse me?” Virginia interrupted and all three men, Strange, Tony, and Bucky looked up. She turned to the tall deceased gentleman who’d been officiating the ceremony. “I really don’t understand how these things work… but this seems to be a problem with the vows themselves?”

“Doctor Strange, Miss,” he said and kissed her hand, “and yes, you’re quite right. They say their vows and then I ask them if they promise to honor and love each other as long as they both shall live – it’s what gives the vows their power.”

“Miss Potts… Or rather, Lady Virginia Pierce, I suppose…” Virginia thought for a long moment, “So if the vows were different, we could marry as we are?”

“Marry as you are?” Strange echoed.

“Yes. The three of us. I… feel that we were brought together for a reason and it would be unwise to tear asunder these threads of fate,” she said, hoping it sounded as reasonable to everyone gathered as it did t her.

“That’s… most unusual. Very irregular,” Strange said, frowning.

Pepper – she was beginning to feel more like that daring nickname again – said, “But not impossible.”

Doctor Strange waved his hand, “Oh, no – nothing’s impossible. What did you have in mind?”

Pepper peered over her shoulder, both Tony and his almost-husband, Bucky, still stood where she’d left them. She smiled and whispered her idea in Doctor Strange’s ear.

He considered, then nodded, “That would work, yes. If you’re sure this is what you want.”

Smiling, she said, “The two kindest, most attractive men I have ever met crossed the boundary between life and death with the intention of marrying. I’m sure…” she twisted her fingers and turned toward Tony and Bucky, “as long as they’ll have me.”

“What?” Tony asked, stunned.

“Both of us?” Bucky mirrored Tony’s shock.

Swallowing her building anxiety that she would lose them both this way, she repeated herself, “Yes – as long as you’ll have me.”

The two men exchanged glances, then looked back at her. Tony stepped forward, then smiled at Bucky and offered his hand. “I don’t know how that would work, Pep – sorry – Virginia.”

“I like the name Pepper. It makes me feel bold.” She smiled, the tiny hope beginning to flutter in her chest. “I don’t know either, but all of us expected to be married to one or both of us tonight and I think we should.”

Bucky searched her face, “You hardly know me – why?”

Pepper took his hand, “Because you look at Tony the way I think I do. And that’s enough for me.”

Doctor Strange clapped his hands together loudly. “Well! We have witnesses and all parties of the union. Shall we? Miss Potts?”

Pepper stood between Bucky and Tony, “With these hands, I will lift your sorrows. Your cups will never empty for I will be your wine.” She let their hands go to light her candle. “With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With these rings, I ask you to be mine.”

Her face fell, she was two rings short. She felt a tug at the hem of her dress and saw a brown field mouse staring up at her, one ring around its neck and the other between its paws. “Sorry I’m late.”

Picking him up, Pepper kissed the mouse on the top of its tiny brown head, “Thank you.” She took the rings and slid on onto Bucky’s finger and one onto Tony’s. She didn’t know and didn’t care where the rings had been before, as long as they were here now.

They joined hands for most of the ceremony and Tony gave her his ring when he said his vows. Bucky said his vows more slowly, ending with, “Let these rings be a sign of our vows.”

Strange nodded approvingly, “Do you Virginia – Pepper, take James and Anthony to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, to love and to cherish, until oceans turn dry and the last star in the sky darkens?”

“I do.”

“And do you Anthony take James and Pepper to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, to love and to cherish, until oceans turn dry and the last star in the sky darkens?”

“I do.”

“James – ” Strange started.

“I do.” Bucky said quickly.

Strange raised an eyebrow.

“Until oceans turn dry and the last star darkens.”

Strange gave a short nod, satisfied, “Then it is my honor to pronounce you husbands and wife. You may kiss each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm including these because I thought someone might enjoy them - not at all because I want to justify the time I spent researching these details that barely are reflected in the story... >.> (who am I really kidding here, lol!)
> 
> This is the music I imagined for [Bucky's entrance into the wedding ceremony](https://youtu.be/FuMtEof9MWs) (starting at 7:40-12:37).  
> And I imagine [this music](https://youtu.be/v7_-DT8tdho) playing when the 3 of them marry!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me), Chapter 5  
> Collaborator(s): Faustess  
> Squares Filled: SBB – G5: Parenthood  
> Ship/Main Pairing: ChillyPepperony (Tony/Bucky/Pepper)  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags/Warnings: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements  
> Summary: Epilogue - One year later and Tony's up to something in his workshop. A surprise.  
> Word Count: 893

Bucky stood with Pepper in the doorway to Tony’s workshop. A lifelike clockwork kitten twined its metal body between their legs, stopping occasionally to lick its paw or rub its head against their shins. Morgan slept peacefully, swaddled and in Bucky’s arms.

“Did Tony tell you what this was all about?” Bucky asked quietly. While not rosy-cheeked and breathing, he’d lost some of his pallor. When they’d asked Doctor Strange, he’d said that their love would continue to preserve Bucky until they’d all crossed the veil of death.

Pepper whispered back, not wanting to wake their baby, “No – he wouldn’t tell me either. He just said it was a surprise.”

Though Morgan was biologically Tony and Pepper’s daughter, for all practical purposes all three were her parents. Both Pepper and Bucky held their breath when the baby stirred and wiggled her arm up to squeeze the edge of her blanket. Bucky rocked her gently, holding Morgan in his good arm and started to softly hum a lullaby.

Pepper rested her head on Bucky’s other shoulder. “You’re taller – can you see what he’s doing?”

Bucky shook his head and briefly rested his cheek on the top of her head, “I can’t, sorry. He’s standing in the way.”

“Tony did say one o’clock, didn’t he?” Pepper asked and discretely sniffed Bucky, who smelled like fallen leaves on a crisp autumn morning and fresh earth.

“He did,” Bucky confirmed.

At that moment, their husband, who still had his back to them raised his arms and started swaying his hips, dancing in place at his workbench.

Bucky sucked his lip, appreciating the view. He turned his head to whisper in Pepper’s ear, “I know people say he’s the genius now, but I say you’re the brains of this operation. I’m grateful to you every single day.” He kissed her hair.

“I get to spend my life and afterlife with the men I love – my motivations were purely selfish.” Pepper giggled and held his bony hand.

Hearing her laugh, Tony startled and whirled around, “You know you two can just come in, right?”

“Bucky was just paying me some compliments,” Pepper said with a smile and moved closer to give Tony a hug and kiss. “I saved you a plate for lunch.”

“My hero,” Tony sing-songed and grinned. He shot a glance at Bucky and his smile thinned and he twisted his fingers nervously. “I… I may… have something for you. I mean I do. I just- I just don’t know if you’ll like it or not. Or misinterpret my good intentions. I promise my intentions were good.”

Bucky smiled gently, “I can’t be upset when I have no idea what you’re talking about, sweetheart.”

Tony took a deep breath, “Okay. Pepper can you take Morgan?”

Raising an eyebrow, Pepper did as requested, risking a kiss on Morgan’s tiny forehead. “You’re being very mysterious Tony. You might have to spend less time reading for Doctor Strange’s book discussion group.”

“It’s a salon, Pepper - in the French sense of the word. Don’t distract me.” Tony waved Bucky over. “Come here and close your eyes, Bucky.”

“Very well.” Bucky moved closer and then closed his eyes.

“Hold out your hands,” Tony said. When Bucky obeyed, he placed a long object wrapped in newsprint into Bucky’s waiting hands. “Okay, open them.”

“It’s not my birthday…” Bucky said slowly, narrowing his eyes slightly. “What’s going on here?” He glanced at Pepper who shook her head and shrugged.

Tony huffed impatiently, “Just open it. Please.”

Bucky carefully tore the paper away revealing a cylindrical object with interlocking plates. As he unwrapped it further, he could see it wasn’t some kind of container. Tony had built a mechanical arm for him. He stood staring at it, speechless, unable to believe his eyes.

“I just… thought maybe it might be useful since the left one keeps falling off at inopportune moments,” Tony stammered.

“It’s beautiful, Tony,” Bucky managed at last. “I… don’t know what to say – thank you.”

Relief flooded Tony’s face and he animatedly started explaining how they’d attach it. As he spoke, he gestured animatedly and knocked a hammer onto a sheet of steel. The thunderous clang woke the baby instantly. Scared, Morgan began to wail at the top of her tiny lungs.

Tony cringed, “I’m so sorry, peanut.” He crossed the room and kissed the top of her head, “It was entirely my fault. I do apologize, my tiny mistress.”

Morgan hiccupped and her parents held their collective and figurative breaths, but she continued crying.

Pepper bounced her little one gently, “Oh, honey, I know that was loud! I wasn’t expecting it either.” She held Morgan close despite the ear-splitting cries. “Daddy’s workshop can be a noisy place! Let’s go back to the sitting room.” Pepper looked over her shoulder, “Tony – don’t forget – you need your lunch.”

Tony grumbled, but Bucky smiled, “We’ll be up soon.”

As she started up the steps, Pepper caught sight of her husbands embracing, murmuring quietly to each other and she smiled, whispering to herself, “Until oceans turn dry and the last star darkens.”


End file.
